Casino table poker wagering event with playing cards

ABSTRACT

A generic method of performing a wagering event includes:
         a player position posting an ante wager;   the player position is dealt two to four face-down cards;   a dealer position is dealt at least four down cards and no more than 6 down cards, and one up card;   a second wager is posted at the player position or the player position hand folds;   sufficient community cards are dealt for use by the player position to a) complete a four-card stud poker hand from a best-of-five total playing cards, or to complete b) a five-card poker hand with a best-of-seven playing cards when at least three cards are dealt face down; and   the respective best player position hands and dealer position hands are compared;   the respective poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of casino wagering events, such as poker wagering events at a casino gaming table. Variations of four-card poker and five-card poker may be used as base wagering events.

2. Background of the Art

The use of poker games as casino table games and as competitive card room games has undergone a significant resurgence in the past twenty years. Both video game versions, live table physical playing card versions, electronic gaming table versions and mixed physical and electronic systems have been used with many variations of poker. Among the more successful games are video draw poker (and its multiline variations), Three-Card Poker™ game, Four-Card Poker™ game, Texas Hold-'Em, Omaha poker, and the like.

Although both Texas Hold-'Em and Omaha Poker are very successful in card room environments, only Texas Hold-'Em has found any success in casino-banked variants or developed any new successful variants. Because of the large following of players who enjoy Omaha Poker, development of a new variant would be desirable to expand availability of the game in various formats.

Seven-Card Stud Poker Rules

Before community-card games such as Hold'em and Omaha became popular, the most widely played poker variation was Seven-Card Stud, which can be played as high-hand only, or as a Hi-Lo split pot game.

Seven Card Stud requires more attention and card-playing prowess, along the lines of Bridge or Gin, than a community-card game.

This is not to say that Stud is any better than any other variation, but it is a game worth knowing how to play. Every poker player should have the ability to play multiple variations of the game, and Seven-Card is one of the most popular and important.

The game of 7 Card Stud can be played with two to eight players at a table. Stud has a lot of little rules and a few quirks, but it's a simple game at its core. The game can be broken up into four sections:

-   -   Setup     -   The Bring     -   Betting Rounds     -   Showdown

Setup

The first thing needed is providing individual players with wagering values, such as chips, currency or credits. The size of the bets will dictate how large the stakes in the game will be. A big bet is typically twice the size of the small bet, with the ante around 10% of the big bet.

Here's a chart of buy-ins and bets to give some perspectives. The buy-in amounts are the minimum amounts wanted to buy in for the stakes. To be sure to have lots of chips, play with smaller stakes for the buy in—for example, use the bets for a

10 game, and buy in for

20:

Recommended Buy-in Big Bet Small Bet Ante $100+  $4 $2  50¢ $20+ $1 50¢ 10¢ $10+  50¢ 25¢  5¢

Once players have chips, one player needs to grab the deck and shuffle up. It doesn't matter who starts as the dealer in a Stud game. Only is a player of the house is acting as a banker is there any significance to the dealer position. As many wagering events begin with first wagers to the left of the dealer and then proceeding clockwise, there is some strategic advantage in being a dealer.

Betting Rules:

Stud can be played in a variety of different betting structures. This article uses the most common structure: Fixed Limit. To learn about other various betting structures.

Once the cards are shuffled, all players must ante. Antes are dead money, meaning they go immediately into the pot: any bets made later will be in addition to the antes.

Starting with the player on the dealer's left and moving around the table clockwise, the dealer deals every player two cards face down (all cards face down are known as down cards or hole cards), followed by one card face up (this card is known as the door card, or window card. All cards face up are collectively known as up cards or show cards).

In every form of poker, there is some determining factor as to how and where the action starts in the hand. In Hold'em or Omaha the action starts to the left of the big blind; in Stud it starts with the bring. Or with wagering initiated to the immediate left of the dealer, with the highest up-card initiating wagering or the lowest value up-card initiating wagering, without a necessary minimum wager equivalent to the bring.

The player with the lowest-value door card is the one required to “bring it in.” Here's what you need to discern the losing player for the bring:

-   -   All cards are worth face value and face cards are valued from         worst to best: Jack, Queen, King.     -   Aces are high for the bring, which means they rank higher than a         king.     -   If two players have the same value low card, suits are used to         determine the loser.     -   Stud uses poker-suit ordering, alphabetic from worst to best:         clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.

The player required to bring has two choices. They can either bring by making a bet equal to the size of the ante, or they can complete the bet to the full amount of the small bet.

Betting Round One (Third Street)

The player to the left of the bring (or the first player who has wagered according to game progress) is next to act. That player has three options:

-   -   Fold: They pay nothing to the pot and throw away their hand,         waiting for the next deal to play again.     -   Call: They match the amount of the bring or the wager of the         first player wagering after the ante and any additional         intervening wagers (e.g., the ante, any wagers and any raises).     -   Raise: If the first player made a minimum bring (only brought         the amount of the ante) a raise will be completing the bet to         the amount of the small bet limit. If the first player completed         their bring to the full small bet a raise would be doubling the         small bet amount.

For example in a

20 game:

Minimum Bring

Player 1 brings 10¢ Player 2 can call 10¢or complete to 50¢.

Maximum Bring (Completion)

Player 1 brings (completes) 50¢ Player 2 can call 50¢ or raise to

1 Play moves clockwise around the table one player at a time. A betting round ends when two conditions are met:

-   -   1. All players have had a chance to act.     -   2. All players who haven't folded have bet the same amount of         money for the round.     -   3. Numbers of raises may be limited to three or some specific         number over three.

Betting Round Two (Fourth Street)

Once the first betting round has completed, the dealer deals every player (always starting at the first live player to his or her left and moving clockwise around the table) one card face up, next to the first face-up card.

In this betting round, and every betting round to follow, the first player to act is decided by the value of the show cards. The player with the highest value show cards acts first. The value of show cards are ranked in the same order as poker hands.

On fourth street, with only two cards showing, the best possible hand would be two aces showing (A

A♡ to be exact). The worst possible hand would be 2

3

. Any pair is better than any two non-paired cards; for example 2

2♦ is better than A

K

.

Suit ranks are used in the event of a tie for the highest-ranked show cards. When evaluating rank by suit, the value of the hand is determined by the suit of the highest ranking card. For example:

Player 1: A

K

Player 2: A♡K

Player 1 has the better hand since the Ace of spades is of higher rank than the Ace of hearts.

Example 2

Player 1: 3

3

Player 2: 3♡3♦,

Player 1 wins, since they have the Three of Spades, which is a higher ranked card than Player 2's Three of Hearts.

Once you have discerned the highest hand, that person acts first. They have the option to check (wager no money, and move the action to the player on their left) or bet the small betting limit.

The action moves from that player clockwise around the table one player at a time. Each player has the option to:

-   -   Check (if no bet has been made).     -   Call (match any bet made).     -   Bet/Raise (If no bet is made, they can bet the small limit; if a         bet has been made they can raise it by adding an additional         amount to the bet, equal to the small limit).     -   fold (throw away their hand).

Once every player has acted, and every player that has not folded has put the same amount of money into the pot, the betting round ends.

Betting Round Three (Fifth Street)

At the completion of fourth street, the dealer deals every remaining player another card face up, starting with the first live player to his or her left, moving clockwise around the table.

Once all the cards have been dealt, the betting round starts the same way fourth street started. The player with the best show cards bets first. Three of a kind is the best combination, followed by a pair, followed by the highest cards.

In this betting round, players bet using the big betting limit. Other than the size of the bets, this betting round is identical to fourth street.

Betting Round Four (Sixth Street)

Sixth street is identical to fifth street. Every player is dealt one card face up, and the highest valued show cards bets first. On sixth street, with four show cards for each player, the best possible show card value is four of a kind.

Sixth street betting uses the big betting limit.

The Final Betting Round (Seventh Street)

When the sixth street betting round is complete, the dealer deals one final card FACE DOWN to every player. Again, the dealer starts at the first player with cards to their left, and moves on clockwise around the table.

The player with the highest-ranked show cards in the previous betting round is the first to act in this betting round as well. The final card having been dealt face down does not affect the value of the four show cards.

The final betting round uses the big betting limit.

Showdown

Once the final betting round has been completed, the players still in the hand enter into the showdown. In the showdown, each player makes the best five card hand possible out of their own seven cards.

The remaining two cards are “dead” and have no value towards the hand at all. They are never used to evaluate the strength of a hand.

Evaluating Hands

Here are the rules for evaluating the winning hand:

-   -   The poker hand ranking order are relatively standard. Royal         Flush, straight flush, four-of-a-kind, Full House, Flush,         Straight, Three-of-a-kind, two pair, one pair, and highest ranks         of cards. Some minor differentiations such as an A-2-3-4-5         straight being the second highest straight my be used. There are         no exceptions to this ordering, a flush always beats a straight,         and three of a kind always beats two pair.     -   There are no other hands used in Stud than the hands listed in         this chart. For example, having three pairs is actually only         “two pair” with the highest valued two pairs making your hand.     -   Poker hands must be exactly five cards and only those five cards         are used to evaluate the winning hand. For example:     -   If the player holds 2♡J         Q         K         A♦10         9         , the player's best hand is a straight: 10         J         Q         K         A♦     -   If all remaining players have nothing, no pair or anything         stronger, the winning hand is the hand with the highest valued         single card. meaning:     -   A         3♡4♦6         7         is a better hand than K         Q         J         9         8♦     -   A         J♡9         8♦6♡ is a better hand than A♡J         9♦8         2

Suits are never used to evaluate the strength of a hand. If two players have the exact same hand (disregarding the suits of the cards), the pot is split between the players.

Once the winning hand has been discerned, that player is awarded the pot. After the pot has been shipped, all players ante and are dealt their next hand. Unless there is a professional dealer, typically the role of dealer will rotate around the table, although it is not necessary for Stud.

Having one player as the dealer for the entire duration of the game will give no player an advantage or disadvantage during the game if the “bring in” rule is followed.

Random Rules Fourth Street Open Pair:

If a player pairs up their door card on fourth street (giving them a pair as the winning high hand for fourth street), the player has the option of checking, betting the small limit or betting the big limit.

If the player chooses to check, the next player to act inherits the same options (meaning they can check, or bet either the small or big limit).

If a player chooses to bet the larger betting limit, all bets and raises in that betting round must be in the big betting limit unit. For example in a

10-

20 limit game, if a player is dealt a pair on fourth street, they can bet

10 or

20.

If they choose to bet

20, the next player must fold, call

20 or raise to

40.

Capping the Bet:

In any one betting round while there are three or more players still in the hand, there can only be one bet and three raises. Once the third raise has been made, the betting is “capped,” meaning all future action in that betting round is restricted to calling or folding.

Running Out of Cards:

If play is with eight people, it is not possible for every player to be dealt a fill 7 cards, since there are only 52 cards in the deck.

If it gets to the point where all eight players are in the hand until seventh street, instead of dealing every player one card, the dealer must deal a single card face up in the middle of the table.

This card is used as a community card (like in Hold'em or Omaha). Every player shares that card as the seventh card of their hand.

It is difficult to convert known wagering events such as poker games into casino table games that are easy to understand, easy to administer by the casino and yet offer reasonable numbers of winning events and opportunities to players.

One of the significant successful stud poker games is Mississippi Stud™ poker. Mississippi Stud Poker is a popular table game known throughout the world but is especially popular in casinos surrounding the state it's named after. While it won't take you very long to learn how to play Mississippi Stud Poker, it will take some time to develop and remember strategies.

Mississippi Stud Poker is played on traditional card tables, and is similar to Texas Hold'em, but has its own unique twists. The game begins with each player making an ante wager. After players ante up, they are each dealt two cards, face down. The dealer then will put three community cards face down in the middle of the table. These will be revealed at a later time. Players can either fold at this point or continue to play. However if they decide to continue to play, they must wager three times their original ante bet to complete the hand and collect their winnings.

If the players decide to keep playing after seeing their original cards, they must wager in the table's first circle called “Third Street.” The wager must equal the ante, though it can be up to three times the amount of the ante bet. This is when the dealer shows the first community card. Now that the remaining players can see the community card, they can both fold and lose the money that they've bet thus far, or they can wager again, up to three times their original ante bet. If the players continue to play, their wagers are placed in the “Fourth Street” circle on the table. That's when the dealer reveals the second community card.

Once the second community card has been revealed, players can fold and lose all the money that they have bet or they can once again bet up to three times the original ante bet. If they decide to wager again, the money is placed in a circle on the table known as “Fifth Street.” This ends the chance to wager for the current hand. Now, the dealer reveals the final community card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A generic method of performing a wagering event includes:

-   -   a player position posting an ante wager;     -   the player position is dealt two to four face-down cards;     -   a dealer position is dealt at least four down cards and no more         than 6 down cards, and one up card;     -   a second wager is posted at the player position or the player         position hand folds;     -   sufficient community cards are dealt for use by the player         position to a) complete a four-card stud poker hand from a         best-of-five total playing cards, or to complete b) a five-card         poker hand with a best-of-seven playing cards when at least         three cards are dealt face down; and     -   the respective best player position hands and dealer position         hands are compared;     -   the respective poker rank at the player position is compared         with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against         the paytable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 (Prior Art) shows a standard video game apparatus useful in enabling the present technology.

FIG. 1A (PRIOR ART) shows a gaming network that may be used to implement some aspects of the invention.

FIG. 1B (PRIOR ART) illustrates an example of a network device that may be configured for implementing some methods of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method of performing a generic wagering event includes:

-   -   providing a randomized set of a single deck of at least 52         playing cards; A standard deck of 52 playing cards may be used.         The deck(s) may include one or more jokers or wild cards, which         changes the game from stud to a wild card game.     -   a player position posting an ante wager;     -   the player position with an ante wager is dealt a) at least two         (and no more than three or four) playing cards for a wagering         event using a best four-card poker hand from a total of five         playing cards and b) no more than four face-down cards (three or         four cards) for a wagering event including a best five from a         total of seven cards;     -   a dealer position initially is dealt at least four down cards         (when the player position receives at least two or three cards)         and no more than 6 down cards (when the player position receives         at least three playing cards), and in both cases there is         preferably an additional dealer position one up card in addition         to the down cards (or a final number of cards is dealt as down         cards to the dealer position);     -   a second wager is posted at the player position after the down         cards are provided at the player position or the player position         hand folding;     -   if a second wager has been posted at the player position,         sufficient community cards are dealer for use by the player         position to a) complete a four-card stud poker hand with a         best-of-five total playing cards when two or three cards are         dealt face down, and to complete b) a five-card poker hand with         a best-of-seven playing cards when at least three cards are         dealt face down; In a best-four-of-five game, sufficient         community cards to assure that a total of five player position         useful cards are provided. With an initial two-card player         position hand, three community cards are provided; with an         initial three-card player position hand, two community cards are         provided. In a best-five-of-seven game, sufficient community         cards to assure that a total of seven player position useful         cards are provided. With an initial three-card player position         hand, four community cards are provided; with an initial         four-card player position hand, three community cards are         provided.     -   In a), a standard four-card poker rank (best four-card poker         rank out of five cards where cards play themselves) with cards         at the player position are compared with a standard four-card         poker rank at the dealer position, respectively. Additional         wagers, including separate bonus wagers may also be placed at         various times during execution of the wagering event;     -   in b), standard five-card poker rank with the best of seven         cards available at the player position are compared with         standard five-card poker rank (best of the seven dealer position         cards) at the dealer position;

Only if the respective poker rank at the player position at least equals (or preferably exceeds) the respective poker rank at the dealer position, the respective poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable. In the case of a tie, all wagers (except possibly bonus wagers) may be a push, or possibly only the ante wager may be paid at 1:1 odds when there is a tie.

The method may be practiced where in a) or b), the poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable only if the respective poker rank at the player position at least exceeds the respective poker rank at the dealer position. Respective is used here to mean that both the player position and dealer position are engaged in the same number-of-cards poker, such that a player position best-four-of-five cards is playing against a dealer position best-four-of-five cards, and a player position best-five-of-seven cards is playing against a dealer position best-five-of-seven cards.

The method may be practiced wherein all community cards are provided after the second wager has been placed. The method may be practiced wherein a first community card is provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position. The player may check after the first community card has been provided and remain active in the method.

The method may be practiced wherein in b), the player position is dealt three face-down playing cards and there are four community cards. In this format of the method, the five-card poker rank at the player position may be compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable only if the five-card poker rank at the player position at least exceeds the five-card poker rank at the dealer position. In all formats of the method, a first community card is provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position before final resolution of the wagering event. This may be posted after a second community card is placed or after all community cards have been placed.

The method may be practiced wherein a first community card is provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position before final resolution of the wagering event. The method may be practiced wherein the second wager in any of the wagering events may have a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager. The method may also be practiced wherein the third wager may have a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.

The method may be practiced wherein after a player position poker hand rank is determined to be higher than the dealer position hand rank, a final player position poker hand rank in excess of a predetermined minimum rank, such as at least three-of-a-kind, at least a straight, or at least a flush is awarded a bonus payout on the ante wager.

Two main variations of the method may be practiced a) wherein exactly two cards are dealt face down and there are exactly three community cards provided before resolution of all wagers and b) wherein the player position is dealt exactly three cards face down, and exactly four community cards are dealt before all wagers are finally resolved.

Super Stud Poker™ Wagering Event

Super Stud Poker is a five-card stud game in which the object is to make a pair or better and beat the dealer. The game is played using four-card poker hands (i.e. best four-out-of-five), with a bonus paid to the ante if the player makes certain five-card poker hands. This is the base game on which the two main (preferred) variations of the method are derived.

The player is dealt three down cards, with two community cards to be shared by the players to help make a best four-card poker hand. There is one betting round, after the initial three down cards are dealt.

-   -   1. The player posts an ante wager, and is dealt three down         cards. The dealer is dealt four down cards and one up card.     -   2. 3^(rd) Street. The player can either bet 1×-4× the ante, or         fold.     -   3. If the player bets, the player places his cards face down         underneath his 3^(rd) Street wager. The dealer turns up his         hand, and deals the two community cards to be used by the         players.     -   4. Showdown. If the player makes a pair or better and beats the         dealer, all player wagers are awarded according to a paytable.         If the player makes certain five-card poker hands, the player is         awarded an additional payoff to the ante wager.

Sample Paytable

Main Game Ante Bonus One Pair 1 to 1 5-Card Straight 1 to 1 Two Pair 1 to 1 5-Card Flush 2 to 1 4-Card Straight 2 to 1 Full House 5 to 1 4-Card Flush 2 to 1 5-Card Straight Flush 10 to 1  Trips 3 to 1 5-Card Royal Flush 50 to 1  4-Card Straight Flush 5 to 1 Quads 10 to 1 

When wild cards or low-poker hand ranks may be used as wagers, the paytable may vary. There may be a separate side bet on a low hand, which can keep players in a hand longer than their potential high poker hand ranks may be effectively do. For example, a player hand of 2, 4, 6, 8 may be enticed to stay in a hand when there is a low hand rank bonus wager, which might pay as much as 50:1, even though the player positions loses a high poker hand rank. This could occur even where the player position must place wagers on the high rank competition with little likelihood of winning the high rank event.

Super Stud Poker Version X™ Wagering Event

Version X is the preferred variation of Super Stud Poker, and is the same as Super Stud Poker, except: (1) the player is dealt two down cards; (2) there are three community cards to be shared by the players; and (3) there are two progressively larger betting rounds (2^(nd) Street), one after the first two cards are dealt, and another after the first community card is dealt (3^(rd) Street).

-   -   1. The player posts an ante wager, and is dealt two down cards.         The dealer is dealt four down cards and one up card.     -   2. 2^(nd) Street. The player can either bet 1×-2× the ante, or         fold.     -   3. If the player bets, the dealer deals the first of three         community cards to be used among the players.     -   4. 3^(rd) Street. The player can either bet 2×-4× the ante, or         fold.     -   5. If the player bets, the player places his cards face down         underneath his 3^(rd) Street wager. The dealer turns up his         hand, and deals the final two community cards.     -   6. Showdown. If the player makes a pair or better and beats the         dealer, all player wagers are awarded according to a paytable.         If the player makes certain five-card poker hands, the player is         awarded an additional payoff to the ante wager.

Sidebets for use in the 5-card variation (best four-of-five cards) may be as follows:

4-Card Hand Sidebet

Hand Payoff Quads 200 to 1  Straight Flush 50 to 1  Trips 5 to 1 Flush 2 to 1 Straight 2 to 1 Two Pair 1 to 1 Pair Push

5-Card Hand Sidebet

Hand Payoff Royal Flush 500 to 1  Straight Flush 200 to 1  Quads 50 to 1 Full House 25 to 1 Flush 20 to 1 Straight 15 to 1 Trips  5 to 1 Two Pair  2 to 1 Jacks or Better  1 to 1 22-TT Push

Super Seven Card Stud™ Wagering Event

Super Seven Card Stud is similar to Super Stud Poker, except with two additional community cards and two betting rounds. The dealer also gets seven cards.

-   -   1. The player posts an ante wager. The dealer is dealt six down         cards and one up card. Each player is dealt three down cards.     -   2. 3^(rd) Street. The player can bet 1×-2× the ante, or fold.     -   3. If the player bets, the dealer deals two community cards.     -   4. 5^(th) Street. The player can bet 2×-4× the ante, or fold.     -   5. If the player bets, the dealer turns up his hand, and deals         the final two community cards.     -   6. Showdown. If the player makes a pair or better and beats the         dealer, the player is paid according to a pay table.

Below is a sample pay table. Alternatively, it's possible that all wagers pay even money, with a bonus awarded to the ante for making certain high hands.

Sample Pay Table

Main Game One Pair 1 to 1 Two Pair 1 to 1 Trips 1 to 1 Straight 2 to 1 Flush 2 to 1 Full House 3 to 1 Quads 5 to 1 Straight Flush 10 to 1  Royal Flush 25 to 1 

The method may also be practiced as a Hi-Lo variant of the modified Stud of the present technology where a best-of-five low-hand five-card poker rank is also separately made from the player position hand and community set, and the dealer position hand and community set, such that the player position hand must win the high five-card poker rank hand and at least not lose the low five-card poker hand rank to win. The Hi-Lo method may be practiced wherein the dealer position hand must have a qualifying maximum rank for the dealer position low five-card poker rank for the player to win on the game wager and flop wager. Variations within the method may be practiced wherein when the player position hands win both the high poker rank hand and the low poker hand rank, the player position is paid according to a paytable; wherein if the player position wins the high poker hand rank against the dealer position but the dealer does not have a qualifying maximum rank for the dealer position low five-card poker rank, the player position is paid according to a paytable on at least one of the game wager and the flop wager; wherein if the player position wins the high poker hand rank against the dealer position but loses the low poker hand rank against the dealer position, all wagers push; wherein if the player position wins the low poker hand rank against the dealer position low poker hand rank but loses against the high poker hand rank, all wagers push; or wherein if the player position wins the low poker hand rank against the dealer position low poker hand rank but ties against the high poker hand rank, all wagers push.

The Hi-Lo event may also be performed wherein if the player position ties the high poker hand rank against the dealer position but loses the low poker hand rank against the dealer position, the player loses both the blind wager and flop wager, or wherein if the player position wins with both a high poker hand rank hand and a low poker hand rank hand against the dealer position, both the game wager and the flop wager are paid according to a pay table.

For Super Seven Card Stud, there may be a sidebet using the four community cards.

Super Seven Card Stud™ Wagering Event: Community Card Sidebet

Hand Payoff Quads 500 to 1  Straight Flush 200 to 1  Flush 10 to 1  Straight 10 to 1  Trips 5 to 1 Two Pair 2 to 1 Pair 1 to 1

In play of the game, it may be desirable for the house to require that in any wager resolution and setting of hands, all down cards, all but one, all but two face-down cards must be used in a final hand, or any other variation in required numbers of face-down cards or allow for complete player selection of cards. Therefore in a five-card wagering event, where four card are originally dealt face down, it may be required that all four of the face-down cards must be used by the player position in determining a final hand rank. Although not required, the dealer position might be required to use the face-up card in any final hand.

In a low-hand variant, a method of performing a wagering event may include:

-   -   providing a randomized set of a single deck of at least 52         playing cards;     -   a player position posting an ante wager;         -   the player position with an ante wager is dealt at least two             and no more than four face-down playing cards;         -   a dealer position is dealt at least four down cards and no             more than 7 total playing cards with no more than 6 down             playing cards;         -   a second wager being posted at the player position or the             player position hand folding;         -   if a second wager has been posted at the player position,             sufficient community cards are dealer for use by the player             position to a) complete a best of five, best of six or best             of seven playing cards four-card stud poker hand or to             complete b) a best of six or best of seven playing cards             five-card poker hand;         -   in a), standard four-card poker rank with cards at the             player position are compared with standard four-card poker             rank at the dealer position, respectively;         -   in b), standard five-card poker rank with cards at the             player position are compared with standard five-card poker             rank at the dealer position;         -   only if the respective poker rank at the player position at             most equals or is lower than the respective poker rank at             the dealer position, the respective poker rank at the player             position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution             of all wagers against the paytable.

In the low hand rank variant, there may be a bonus event added for a high hand rank of the same size (4-card or 5-card) or different size. For instance, in a best four-out-of-five low hand rank variant (referred to as Super Razz™), there may be a bonus event for 5-card high hands, as well as a bonus event for 5-card low hands.

A sample paytable for a 5-card low-hand bonus event wager may be as below:

Super Razz™ Wagering Event: 5-Card Low Hand Sidebet

Hand Payoff Wheel (A-5) 100 to 1  6-Low to 8-Low 15 to 1 9-Low to Q-Low  1 to 1

In the bonus events, it may be possible to use fewer than all face-down cards. Any bonus paytable would reflect the number of face-down cards that must be used in any final resolution of the wager. The fewer the number of face-down playing cards that must be used, the lower the odds are likely to be in the paytable.

Other standard variations of low-hand rankings may be used. For instance, in some standard forms of lowball poker, 5-4-3-2-A is the best low hand, irrespective of straights or flushes; in other variations, 6-4-3-2-A unsuited (no flush) is the best low hand; in another standard lowball variation 2-7 Lowball (a.k.a. Kansas City Lowball), 7-5-4-3-2 unsuited is the best hand.

Wagering Game Machine Architectures

Prior Art wagering game machine architecture may be used to effect and practice example embodiments of the invention. A typical wagering game machine architecture includes a wagering game machine or terminal or bank of machines, which includes a central processing unit (CPU) connected to main memory. The CPU can include any suitable processor, such as an Intel™ Pentium processor, Intel® Core 2 Duo processor, AMD Opteron® processor, or Ultra SPARC processor. The main memory includes a wagering game unit and a wagering game animation presentation unit. In one embodiment, the wagering game unit can present the wagering games described herein, in whole or part.

The wagering game animation presentation unit receives wagering game animations generated by a content server (e.g., the content server described above) and presents the wagering game animations on a primary display and/or a secondary display of the wagering game machine in accordance with instructions from a content server. In some implementations, the main memory may also comprise a compositing unit. The compositing unit can receive, from the content server, a template animation, a randomly generated wagering game outcome, and an orientation of an object(s) of the wagering game. The compositing unit can generate the wagering game animation and present the wagering game animation (e.g., spinning wheels or other added animation) on the primary display and/or the secondary display of the wagering game machine based on the template animation, the outcome, and the orientation of the object(s).

The CPU is also connected to an input/output (I/O) bus, which can include any suitable bus technologies, such as an AGTL+ frontside bus and a PCI backside bus. The I/O bus is connected to a payout mechanism, the primary display, the secondary display, value input device, player input device, information reader, and storage unit. The player input device can include the value input device to the extent the player input device is used to place wagers. The I/O bus is also connected to an external system interface, which is connected to external systems (e.g., wagering game networks).

In one embodiment, the wagering game machine can include additional peripheral devices and/or more than one of each component discussed above. For example, in one embodiment, the wagering game machine can include multiple external system interfaces and/or multiple CPUs. In one embodiment, any of the components can be integrated or subdivided.

Any component of the architecture can include hardware, firmware, and/or machine-readable media including instructions for performing the operations described herein. Machine-readable media includes any mechanism that provides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a wagering game machine, computer, etc.). Machine-readable media can be machine-readable storage media or machine-readable signal media. Examples of machine-readable storage media include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Examples of machine-readable signal media can be in the form of an electro-magnetic signal, an optical signal, or any suitable combination thereof.

A graphical user interface (GUI) is a type of computer application user interface that allows people to interact with a computer and computer-controlled devices. A GUI typically employs graphical icons, visual indicators or special graphical elements, along with text, labels or text navigation to represent the information and actions available to a user. The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.

A gaming apparatus may include a housing, a display system for providing at least one payline for a wagering game, with multiple symbols available for each frame of the at least one payline, a processor and a wager accounting system, wherein the processor is configured to execute code to perform the wagering methods described herein. The game may also be played on-line, with a central and distal server providing gaming content on-line or through a large area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Player input systems may include any hardware capable of accessing the network and having capability of security supervision, such as smart phones, pads, tablets, processor systems (e.g., laptops, desktop, or hand-held computer systems) and the like.

A brief description of an example of a method of practicing the present technology will assist in a further understanding of the technology and its scope.

There are many structural options for the sequential display of symbols in the structure of the present technology. As noted herein, certain orientations of original display of frames according to the present technology may or may not provide different quality of information affecting probabilities and decisions. Keeping that important impact of disclosure in mind, there are still neutral mechanisms according to the present technology.

Turning next to FIG. 1, a video gaming machine 2 of the present invention is shown. Machine 2 includes a main cabinet 4, which generally surrounds the machine interior (not shown) and is viewable by users. The main cabinet includes a main door 8 on the front of the machine, which opens to provide access to the interior of the machine. Attached to the main door are player-input switches or buttons 32, a coin acceptor 28, and a bill validator 30, a coin tray 38, and a display area including a mechanical gaming system (or less preferably a separate electronic game) 40. There may be an overlay of touchscreen functionality on the separate electronic game 40 or some of the buttons 32 may be functional on the separate mechanical gaming system 40. That separate mechanical gaming system may be in a relatively vertical viewing position as shown or in a more horizontal (table like) display unit. Viewable through the main door is a video display monitor 34 and an information panel 36. The display monitor 34 will typically be a cathode ray tube, high resolution flat-panel LCD, LED, plasma screen or other conventional electronically controlled video monitor. The information panel 36 may be a back-lit, silk screened glass panel with lettering to indicate general game information including, for example, a game denomination (e.g.

0.25 or

1). The bill validator 30, player-input switches 32, video display monitor 34, and information panel are devices used to play a game on the game machine 2. The devices are controlled by circuitry (e.g. the master gaming controller) housed inside the main cabinet 4 of the machine 2.

Many different types of games, including mechanical slot games, video slot games, video poker, video black jack, video pachinko and lottery, may be provided with gaming machines of this invention. In particular, the gaming machine 2 may be operable to provide a play of many different instances of games of chance. The instances may be differentiated according to themes, sounds, graphics, type of game (e.g., slot game vs. card game), denomination, number of paylines, maximum jackpot, progressive or non-progressive, bonus games, etc. The gaming machine 2 may be operable to allow a player to select a game of chance to play from a plurality of instances available on the gaming machine. For example, the gaming machine may provide a menu with a list of the instances of games that are available for play on the gaming machine and a player may be able to select from the list a first instance of a game of chance that they wish to play.

The various instances of games available for play on the gaming machine 2 may be stored as game software on a mass storage device in the gaming machine or may be generated on a remote gaming device but then displayed on the gaming machine. The gaming machine 2 may executed game software, such as but not limited to video streaming software that allows the game to be displayed on the gaming machine. When an instance is stored on the gaming machine 2, it may be loaded from the mass storage device into a RAM for execution. In some cases, after a selection of an instance, the game software that allows the selected instance to be generated may be downloaded from a remote gaming device, such as another gaming machine.

The gaming machine 2 includes a top box 6, which sits on top of the main cabinet 4. The top box 6 houses a number of devices, which may be used to add features to a game being played on the gaming machine 2, including speakers 10, 12, 14, a ticket printer 18 which prints bar-coded tickets 20, a key pad 22 for entering player tracking information, a florescent display 16 for displaying player tracking information, a card reader 24 for entering a magnetic striped card containing player tracking information, and a video display screen 42. The ticket printer 18 may be used to print tickets for a cashless ticketing system. Further, the top box 6 may house different or additional devices than shown in the FIG. 1. For example, the top box may contain a bonus wheel or a back-lit silk screened panel which may be used to add bonus features to the game being played on the gaming machine. As another example, the top box may contain a display for a progressive jackpot offered on the gaming machine. During a game, these devices are controlled and powered, in part, by circuitry (e.g. a master gaming controller) housed within the main cabinet 4 of the machine 2.

Understand that gaming machine 2 is but one example from a wide range of gaming machine designs on which the present invention may be implemented. For example, not all suitable gaming machines have top boxes or player tracking features. Further, some gaming machines have only a single game display-mechanical or video, while others are designed for bar tables and have displays that face upwards. As another example, a game may be generated in on a host computer and may be displayed on a remote terminal or a remote gaming device. The remote gaming device may be connected to the host computer via a network of some type such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet or the Internet. The remote gaming device may be a portable gaming device such as but not limited to a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless game player. Images rendered from 3-D gaming environments may be displayed on portable gaming devices that are used to play a game of chance. Further a gaming machine or server may include gaming logic for commanding a remote gaming device to render an image from a virtual camera in a 3-D gaming environments stored on the remote gaming device and to display the rendered image on a display located on the remote gaming device. Thus, those of skill in the art will understand that the present invention, as described below, can be deployed on most any gaming machine now available or hereafter developed.

Some preferred gaming machines of the present assignee are implemented with special features and/or additional circuitry that differentiates them from general-purpose computers (e.g., desktop PC's and laptops). Gaming machines are highly regulated to ensure fairness and, in many cases, gaming machines are operable to dispense monetary awards of multiple millions of dollars. Therefore, to satisfy security and regulatory requirements in a gaming environment, hardware and software architectures may be implemented in gaming machines that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers. A description of gaming machines relative to general-purpose computing machines and some examples of the additional (or different) components and features found in gaming machines are described below.

At first glance, one might think that adapting PC technologies to the gaming industry would be a simple proposition because both PCs and gaming machines employ microprocessors that control a variety of devices. However, because of such reasons as 1) the regulatory requirements that are placed upon gaming machines, 2) the harsh environment in which gaming machines operate, 3) security requirements and 4) fault tolerance requirements, adapting PC technologies to a gaming machine can be quite difficult. Further, techniques and methods for solving a problem in the PC industry, such as device compatibility and connectivity issues, might not be adequate in the gaming environment. For instance, a fault or a weakness tolerated in a PC, such as security holes in software or frequent crashes, may not be tolerated in a gaming machine because in a gaming machine these faults can lead to a direct loss of funds from the gaming machine, such as stolen cash or loss of revenue when the gaming machine is not operating properly.

For the purposes of illustration, a few differences between PC systems and gaming systems will be described. A first difference between gaming machines and common PC based computers systems is that gaming machines are designed to be state-based systems. In a state-based system, the system stores and maintains its current state in a non-volatile memory, such that, in the event of a power failure or other malfunction the gaming machine will return to its current state when the power is restored. For instance, if a player was shown an award for a game of chance and, before the award could be provided to the player the power failed, the gaming machine, upon the restoration of power, would return to the state where the award is indicated. As anyone who has used a PC, knows, PCs are not state machines and a majority of data is usually lost when a malfunction occurs. This requirement affects the software and hardware design on a gaming machine.

A second important difference between gaming machines and common PC based computer systems is that for regulation purposes, the software on the gaming machine used to generate the game of chance and operate the gaming machine has been designed to be static and monolithic to prevent cheating by the operator of gaming machine. For instance, one solution that has been employed in the gaming industry to prevent cheating and satisfy regulatory requirements has been to manufacture a gaming machine that can use a proprietary processor running instructions to generate the game of chance from an EPROM or other form of non-volatile memory. The coding instructions on the EPROM are static (non-changeable) and must be approved by a gaming regulators in a particular jurisdiction and installed in the presence of a person representing the gaming jurisdiction. Any changes to any part of the software required to generate the game of chance, such as adding a new device driver used by the master gaming controller to operate a device during generation of the game of chance can require a new EPROM to be burnt, approved by the gaming jurisdiction and reinstalled on the gaming machine in the presence of a gaming regulator. Regardless of whether the EPROM solution is used, to gain approval in most gaming jurisdictions, a gaming machine must demonstrate sufficient safeguards that prevent an operator or player of a gaming machine from manipulating hardware and software in a manner that gives them an unfair and some cases an illegal advantage. The gaming machine should have a means to determine if the code it will execute is valid. If the code is not valid, the gaming machine must have a means to prevent the code from being executed. The code validation requirements in the gaming industry affect both hardware and software designs on gaming machines.

A third important difference between gaming machines and common PC based computer systems is the number and kinds of peripheral devices used on a gaming machine are not as great as on PC based computer systems. Traditionally, in the gaming industry, gaming machines have been relatively simple in the sense that the number of peripheral devices and the number of functions the gaming machine has been limited. Further, in operation, the functionality of gaming machines were relatively constant once the gaming machine was deployed, i.e., new peripherals devices and new gaming software were infrequently added to the gaming machine. This differs from a PC where users will go out and buy different combinations of devices and software from different manufacturers and connect them to a PC to suit their needs depending on a desired application. Therefore, the types of devices connected to a PC may vary greatly from user to user depending in their individual requirements and may vary significantly over time.

Although the variety of devices available for a PC may be greater than on a gaming machine, gaming machines still have unique device requirements that differ from a PC, such as device security requirements not usually addressed by PCs. For instance, monetary devices, such as coin dispensers, bill validators and ticket printers and computing devices that are used to govern the input and output of cash to a gaming machine have security requirements that are not typically addressed in PCs. Therefore, many PC techniques and methods developed to facilitate device connectivity and device compatibility do not address the emphasis placed on security in the gaming industry.

To address some of the issues described above, a number of hardware/software components and architectures are utilized in gaming machines that are not typically found in general purpose computing devices, such as PCs. These hardware/software components and architectures, as described below in more detail, include but are not limited to watchdog timers, voltage monitoring systems, state-based software architecture and supporting hardware, specialized communication interfaces, security monitoring and trusted memory.

A watchdog timer is normally used in gaming machines to provide a software failure detection mechanism. In a normally operating system, the operating software periodically accesses control registers in the watchdog timer subsystem to “re-trigger” the watchdog. Should the operating software fail to access the control registers within a preset timeframe, the watchdog timer will timeout and generate a system reset. Typical watchdog timer circuits contain a loadable timeout counter register to allow the operating software to set the timeout interval within a certain range of time. A differentiating feature of the some preferred circuits is that the operating software cannot completely disable the function of the watchdog timer. In other words, the watchdog timer always functions from the time power is applied to the board.

Gaming computer platforms preferably use several power supply voltages to operate portions of the computer circuitry. These can be generated in a central power supply or locally on the computer board. If any of these voltages falls out of the tolerance limits of the circuitry they power, unpredictable operation of the computer may result. Though most modem general-purpose computers include voltage monitoring circuitry, these types of circuits only report voltage status to the operating software. Out of tolerance voltages can cause software malfunction, creating a potential uncontrolled condition in the gaming computer. Gaming machines of the present assignee typically have power supplies with tighter voltage margins than that required by the operating circuitry. In addition, the voltage monitoring circuitry implemented in gaming computers typically has two thresholds of control. The first threshold generates a software event that can be detected by the operating software and an error condition generated. This threshold is triggered when a power supply voltage falls out of the tolerance range of the power supply, but is still within the operating range of the circuitry. The second threshold is set when a power supply voltage falls out of the operating tolerance of the circuitry. In this case, the circuitry generates a reset, halting operation of the computer.

The standard method of operation for slot machine game software is to use a state machine. Different functions of the game (bet, play, result, points in the graphical presentation, etc.) may be defined as a state. When a game moves from one state to another, critical data regarding the game software is stored in a custom non-volatile memory subsystem. This is critical to ensure the player's wager and credits are preserved and to minimize potential disputes in the event of a malfunction on the gaming machine.

In general, the gaming machine does not advance from a first state to a second state until critical information that allows the first state to be reconstructed is stored. This feature allows the game to recover operation to the current state of play in the event of a malfunction, loss of power, etc. that occurred just prior to the malfunction. After the state of the gaming machine is restored during the play of a game of chance, game play may resume and the game may be completed in a manner that is no different than if the malfunction had not occurred. Typically, battery backed RAM devices are used to preserve this critical data although other types of non-volatile memory devices may be employed. These memory devices are not used in typical general-purpose computers.

As described in the preceding paragraph, when a malfunction occurs during a game of chance, the gaming machine may be restored to a state in the game of chance just prior to when the malfunction occurred. The restored state may include metering information and graphical information that was displayed on the gaming machine in the state prior to the malfunction. For example, when the malfunction occurs during the play of a card game after the cards have been dealt, the gaming machine may be restored with the cards that were previously displayed as part of the card game. As another example, a bonus game may be triggered during the play of a game of chance where a player is required to make a number of selections on a video display screen. When a malfunction has occurred after the player has made one or more selections, the gaming machine may be restored to a state that shows the graphical presentation at the just prior to the malfunction including an indication of selections that have already been made by the player. In general, the gaming machine may be restored to any state in a plurality of states that occur in the game of chance that occurs while the game of chance is played or to states that occur between the play of a game of chance.

Game history information regarding previous games played such as an amount wagered, the outcome of the game and so forth may also be stored in a non-volatile memory device. The information stored in the non-volatile memory may be detailed enough to reconstruct a portion of the graphical presentation that was previously presented on the gaming machine and the state of the gaming machine (e.g., credits) at the time the game of chance was played. The game history information may be utilized in the event of a dispute. For example, a player may decide that in a previous game of chance that they did not receive credit for an award that they believed they won. The game history information may be used to reconstruct the state of the gaming machine prior, during and/or after the disputed game to demonstrate whether the player was correct or not in their assertion.

Another feature of gaming machines, such as gaming computers, is that they often contain unique interfaces, including serial interfaces, to connect to specific subsystems internal and external to the slot machine. The serial devices may have electrical interface requirements that differ from the “standard” EIA 232 serial interfaces provided by general-purpose computers. These interfaces may include EIA 485, EIA 422, Fiber Optic Serial, optically coupled serial interfaces, current loop style serial interfaces, etc. In addition, to conserve serial interfaces internally in the slot machine, serial devices may be connected in a shared, daisy-chain fashion where multiple peripheral devices are connected to a single serial channel.

The serial interfaces may be used to transmit information using communication protocols that are unique to the gaming industry. For example, the Netplex™ system of IGT is a proprietary communication protocol used for serial communication between gaming devices. As another example, SAS is a communication protocol used to transmit information, such as metering information, from a gaming machine to a remote device. Often SAS is used in conjunction with a player tracking system.

Gaming machines may alternatively be treated as peripheral devices to a casino communication controller and connected in a shared daisy chain fashion to a single serial interface. In both cases, the peripheral devices are preferably assigned device addresses. If so, the serial controller circuitry must implement a method to generate or detect unique device addresses. General-purpose computer serial ports are not able to do this.

Security monitoring circuits detect intrusion into a gaming machine by monitoring security switches attached to access doors in the slot machine cabinet. Preferably, access violations result in suspension of game play and can trigger additional security operations to preserve the current state of game play. These circuits also function when power is off by use of a battery backup. In power-off operation, these circuits continue to monitor the access doors of the slot machine. When power is restored, the gaming machine can determine whether any security violations occurred while power was off, e.g., via software for reading status registers. This can trigger event log entries and further data authentication operations by the slot machine software.

Trusted memory devices are preferably included in a gaming machine computer to ensure the authenticity of the software that may be stored on less secure memory subsystems, such as mass storage devices. Trusted memory devices and controlling circuitry are typically designed to not allow modification of the code and data stored in the memory device while the memory device is installed in the slot machine. The code and data stored in these devices may include authentication algorithms, random number generators, authentication keys, operating system kernels, etc. The purpose of these trusted memory devices is to provide gaming regulatory authorities a root trusted authority within the computing environment of the slot machine that can be tracked and verified as original. This may be accomplished via removal of the trusted memory device from the slot machine computer and verification of the secure memory device contents is a separate third party verification device. Once the trusted memory device is verified as authentic, and based on the approval of the verification algorithms contained in the trusted device, the gaming machine is allowed to verify the authenticity of additional code and data that may be located in the gaming computer assembly, such as code and data stored on hard disk drives. A few details related to trusted memory devices that may be used in the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,567 titled “Process Verification,” which is incorporated herein in its entirety and for all purposes.

Mass storage devices used in a general purpose computer typically allow code and data to be read from and written to the mass storage device. In a gaming machine environment, modification of the gaming code stored on a mass storage device is strictly controlled and would only be allowed under specific maintenance type events with electronic and physical enablers required. Though this level of security could be provided by software, gaming computers that include mass storage devices preferably include hardware level mass storage data protection circuitry that operates at the circuit level to monitor attempts to modify data on the mass storage device and will generate both software and hardware error triggers should a data modification be attempted without the proper electronic and physical enablers being present.

Returning to the example of FIG. 1, when a user wishes to play the gaming machine 2, he or she inserts cash through the coin acceptor 28 or bill validator 30. Additionally, the bill validator may accept a printed ticket voucher which may be accepted by the bill validator 30 as an indicia of credit when a cashless ticketing system is used. At the start of the game, the player may enter playing tracking information using the card reader 24, the keypad 22, and the florescent display 16. Further, other game preferences of the player playing the game may be read from a card inserted into the card reader. During the game, the player views game information using the video display 34. Other game and prize information may also be displayed in the video display screen 42 located in the top box.

During the course of a game, a player may be required to make a number of decisions, which affect the outcome of the game. For example, a player may vary his or her wager on a particular game, select a prize for a particular game selected from a prize server, or make game decisions which affect the outcome of a particular game. The player may make these choices using the player-input switches 32, the video display screen 34 or using some other device which enables a player to input information into the gaming machine. In some embodiments, the player may be able to access various game services such as concierge services and entertainment content services using the video display screen 34 and one more input devices.

During certain game events, the gaming machine 2 may display visual and auditory effects that can be perceived by the player. These effects add to the excitement of a game, which makes a player more likely to continue playing. Auditory effects include various sounds that are projected by the speakers 10, 12, 14. Visual effects include flashing lights, strobing lights or other patterns displayed from lights on the gaming machine 2 or from lights within the separate mechanical (or electronic) separately, individually wagerable gaming system 40. After the player has completed a game, the player may receive game tokens from the coin tray 38 or the ticket 20 from the printer 18, which may be used for further games or to redeem a prize. Further, the player may receive a ticket 20 for food, merchandise, or games from the printer 18.

Another gaming network that may be used to implement some aspects of the invention is depicted in FIG. 1A. Gaming establishment 1001 could be any sort of gaming establishment, such as a casino, a card room, an airport, a store, etc. In this example, gaming network 1077 includes more than one gaming establishment, all of which are networked to game server 1022.

Here, gaming machine 1002, and the other gaming machines 1030, 1032, 1034, and 1036, include a main cabinet 1006 and a top box 1004. The main cabinet 1006 houses the main gaming elements and can also house peripheral systems, such as those that utilize dedicated gaming networks. The top box 1004 may also be used to house these peripheral systems.

The master gaming controller 1008 controls the game play on the gaming machine 1002 according to instructions and/or game data from game server 1022 or stored within gaming machine 1002 and receives or sends data to various input/output devices 1011 on the gaming machine 1002. In one embodiment, master gaming controller 1008 includes processor(s) and other apparatus of the gaming machines described above. The master gaming controller 1008 may also communicate with a display 1010.

A particular gaming entity may desire to provide network gaming services that provide some operational advantage. Thus, dedicated networks may connect gaming machines to host servers that track the performance of gaming machines under the control of the entity, such as for accounting management, electronic fund transfers (EFTs), cashless ticketing, such as EZPay™, marketing management, and data tracking, such as player tracking. Therefore, master gaming controller 1008 may also communicate with EFT system 1012, EZPay™ system 1016 (a proprietary cashless ticketing system of the present assignee), and player tracking system 1020. The systems of the gaming machine 1002 communicate the data onto the network 1022 via a communication board 1018.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that embodiments of the present invention could be implemented on a network with more or fewer elements than are depicted in FIG. 1A. For example, player tracking system 1020 is not a necessary feature of some implementations of the present invention. However, player tracking programs may help to sustain a game player's interest in additional game play during a visit to a gaming establishment and may entice a player to visit a gaming establishment to partake in various gaming activities. Player tracking programs provide rewards to players that typically correspond to the player's level of patronage (e.g., to the player's playing frequency and/or total amount of game plays at a given casino). Player tracking rewards may be free meals, free lodging and/or free entertainment. Player tracking information may be combined with other information that is now readily obtainable by an SBG system.

Moreover, DCU 1024 and translator 1025 are not required for all gaming establishments 1001. However, due to the sensitive nature of much of the information on a gaming network (e.g., electronic fund transfers and player tracking data) the manufacturer of a host system usually employs a particular networking language having proprietary protocols. For instance, 10-20 different companies produce player tracking host systems where each host system may use different protocols. These proprietary protocols are usually considered highly confidential and not released publicly.

Further, gaming machines are made by many different manufacturers. The communication protocols on the gaming machine are typically hard-wired into the gaming machine and each gaming machine manufacturer may utilize a different proprietary communication protocol. A gaming machine manufacturer may also produce host systems, in which case their gaming machines are compatible with their own host systems. However, in a heterogeneous gaming environment, gaming machines from different manufacturers, each with its own communication protocol, may be connected to host systems from other manufacturers, each with another communication protocol. Therefore, communication compatibility issues regarding the protocols used by the gaming machines in the system and protocols used by the host systems must be considered.

A network device that links a gaming establishment with another gaming establishment and/or a central system will sometimes be referred to herein as a “site controller.” Here, site controller 1042 provides this function for gaming establishment 1001. Site controller 1042 is connected to a central system and/or other gaming establishments via one or more networks, which may be public or private networks. Among other things, site controller 1042 communicates with game server 1022 to obtain game data, such as ball drop data, bingo card data, etc.

In the present illustration, gaming machines 1002, 1030, 1032, 1034 and 1036 are connected to a dedicated gaming network 1022. In general, the DCU 1024 functions as an intermediary between the different gaming machines on the network 1022 and the site controller 1042. In general, the DCU 1024 receives data transmitted from the gaming machines and sends the data to the site controller 1042 over a transmission path 1026. In some instances, when the hardware interface used by the gaming machine is not compatible with site controller 1042, a translator 1025 may be used to convert serial data from the DCU 1024 to a format accepted by site controller 1042. The translator may provide this conversion service to a plurality of DCUs.

Further, in some dedicated gaming networks, the DCU 1024 can receive data transmitted from site controller 1042 for communication to the gaming machines on the gaming network. The received data may be, for example, communicated synchronously to the gaming machines on the gaming network.

Here, CVT 1052 provides cashless and cashout gaming services to the gaming machines in gaming establishment 1001. Broadly speaking, CVT 1052 authorizes and validates cashless gaming machine instruments (also referred to herein as “tickets” or “vouchers”), including but not limited to tickets for causing a gaming machine to display a game result and cash-out tickets. Moreover, CVT 1052 authorizes the exchange of a cashout ticket for cash. These processes will be described in detail below. In one example, when a player attempts to redeem a cash-out ticket for cash at cashout kiosk 1044, cash out kiosk 1044 reads validation data from the cashout ticket and transmits the validation data to CVT 1052 for validation. The tickets may be printed by gaming machines, by cashout kiosk 1044, by a stand-alone printer, by CVT 1052, etc. Some gaming establishments will not have a cashout kiosk 1044. Instead, a cashout ticket could be redeemed for cash by a cashier (e.g. of a convenience store), by a gaming machine or by a specially configured CVT.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a network device that may be configured for implementing some methods of the present invention. Network device 1160 includes a master central processing unit (CPU) 1162, interfaces 1168, and a bus 1167 (e.g., a PCI bus). Generally, interfaces 1168 include ports 1169 appropriate for communication with the appropriate media. In some embodiments, one or more of interfaces 1168 includes at least one independent processor and, in some instances, volatile RAM. The independent processors may be, for example, ASICs or any other appropriate processors. According to some such embodiments, these independent processors perform at least some of the functions of the logic described herein. In some embodiments, one or more of interfaces 1168 control such communications-intensive tasks as encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, packetization, media control and management. By providing separate processors for the communications-intensive tasks, interfaces 1168 allow the master microprocessor 1162 efficiently to perform other functions such as routing computations, network diagnostics, security functions, etc.

The interfaces 1168 are typically provided as interface cards (sometimes referred to as “linecards”). Generally, interfaces 1168 control the sending and receiving of data packets over the network and sometimes support other peripherals used with the network device 1160. Among the interfaces that may be provided are FC interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, and the like. In addition, various very high-speed interfaces may be provided, such as fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, ATM interfaces, HSSI interfaces, POS interfaces, FDDI interfaces, ASI interfaces, DHEI interfaces and the like.

When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, in some implementations of the invention CPU 1162 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a desired network device. According to some embodiments, CPU 1162 accomplishes all these functions under the control of software including an operating system and any appropriate applications software.

CPU 1162 may include one or more processors 1163 such as a processor from the Motorola family of microprocessors or the MIPS family of microprocessors. In an alternative embodiment, processor 1163 is specially designed hardware for controlling the operations of network device 1160. In a specific embodiment, a memory 1161 (such as non-volatile RAM and/or ROM) also forms part of CPU 1162. However, there are many different ways in which memory could be coupled to the system. Memory block 1161 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, etc.

Regardless of network device's configuration, it may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, memory block 1165) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations and/or other information relating to the functionality of the techniques described herein. The program instructions may control the operation of an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement the systems/methods described herein, the present invention relates to machine-readable media that include program instructions, state information, etc. for performing various operations described herein. Examples of machine-readable media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). The invention may also be embodied in a carrier wave traveling over an appropriate medium such as airwaves, optical lines, electric lines, etc. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter.

Although the system shown in FIG. 1B illustrates one specific network device of the present invention, it is by no means the only network device architecture on which the present invention can be implemented. For example, an architecture having a single processor that handles communications as well as routing computations, etc. is often used. Further, other types of interfaces and media could also be used with the network device. The communication path between interfaces may be bus based (as shown in FIG. 1B) or switch fabric based (such as a cross-bar).

While this invention is described in terms of preferred embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents that fall within the scope of the invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the present invention. It is therefore intended that the invention not be limited to the preferred embodiments described herein, but instead that the invention should be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

The basic equipment desirable for performing the process and forming the system may include:

-   -   a) a processor configured to execute code to simulate a physical         random gaming event outcome using a random number generator. A         commercially available gaming processor or central processor may         be used. The processor may be provided with memory, flash         memory, EPROM, EEPROM, RAM, ROM, input/output ports, hard-wire         or wireless communication enabling capability and the like.     -   b) memory storing video displayable image data of a device         useful in providing the physical random gaming event outcome.         The displayable image data may be segmented or may be in a         continuous format. In segmented format, a first generic image         data set would display a generic movement of the virtual random         event generations system would be shown. An individual, specific         segment may be transferred from memory to the display system at         the end of the generic segment. The individual, specific display         data segment would then show the virtual image of the random         number generated determined outcome for the game event. This         method reduces the total amount of data that must be stored in         displaying outcomes. This is particularly important where a         single processor stores multiple games thereon.

The present gaming technology may also be implemented for on-line gaming, social media play or gaming, communal gaming, multi-player platform gaming and the like. As the only change implemented by players during the game is wagering amounts, as opposed to play strategy, allowing multiple players to engage in a single game is easily enabled.

The technology disclosed herein may also be used in social media applications, with no wagers, or virtual wagers used in social media game play or free play on free-gaming websites. As on-line gaming becomes available, this technology may be incorporated therein also, using existing or improved future technology implementing the wagering steps disclosed herein.

Other variations may be useful and added to the generic concept within the scope of the invention. For example, specific markings may be on the table for initial player cards, each individual or collective community cards, specific marked areas for each possible wager, including bonus wagers, and the like. 

What is claimed:
 1. A method of performing a wagering event comprises: providing a randomized set of a single deck of at least 52 playing cards; a player position posting an ante wager; the player position with an ante wager is dealt at least two and no more than four face-down playing cards; a dealer position is dealt at least four down cards and no more than 7 total playing cards with no more than 6 down playing cards; a second wager being posted at the player position or the player position hand folding; if a second wager has been posted at the player position, sufficient community cards are dealt for use by the player position to a) complete a best of five, best of six or best of seven playing cards four-card stud poker hand or to complete b) a best of six or best of seven playing cards five-card poker hand; in a), standard four-card poker rank with cards at the player position are compared with standard four-card poker rank at the dealer position, respectively; in b), standard five-card poker rank with cards at the player position are compared with standard five-card poker rank at the dealer position; only if the respective poker rank at the player position at least equals the respective poker rank at the dealer position, the respective poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein in a) or b), the poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable only if the respective poker rank at the player position at least exceeds the respective poker rank at the dealer position.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein all community cards are provided after the second wager has been placed and the player position must use all face-down cards in forming the four-card or five-card player position hand.
 4. The method of claim 2 wherein all community cards are provided after the second wager has been placed and the player position must use all face-down cards in forming the four-card or five-card player position hand.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein a first community card is provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein a first community card is provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position and the player position must use all face-down cards in forming the four-card or five-card player position hand.
 7. The method of claim 5 wherein the player may check after the first community card has been provided and remain active in the method.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the player may check after the first community card has been provided and remain active in the method.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein in b), the player position is dealt three face-down playing cards and there are four community cards.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the five-card poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable only if the five-card poker rank at the player position at least exceeds the five-card poker rank at the dealer position.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein all community cards are provided after the second wager has been placed and the player position must use all face-down cards in forming the four-card or five-card player position hand.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein all community cards are provided after the second wager has been placed and the player position must use all face-down cards in forming the four-card or five-card player position hand.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein the first two community cards are provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position before final resolution of the wagering event.
 14. The method of claim 10 wherein the first two community cards are provided after the second wager has been posted and a third wager may be posted at the player position before final resolution of the wagering event.
 15. The method of claim 9 wherein the player may check after the first two community cards have been provided and remain active in the method.
 16. The method of claim 10 wherein the player may check after the first two community cards have been provided and remain active in the method.
 17. The method of claim 1 wherein the second wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 18. The method of claim 2 wherein the second wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 19. The method of claim 9 wherein the second wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 20. The method of claim 10 wherein the second wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 21. The method of claim 9 wherein the third wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 22. The method of claim 10 wherein the third wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 23. The method of claim 19 wherein the third wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 24. The method of claim 20 wherein the third wager has a value between 1× and 5× the ante wager.
 25. The method of claim 1 wherein after a player position poker hand rank is determined to be higher than the dealer position hand rank, a final player position poker hand rank in excess of three-of-a-kind is awarded a bonus payout on the ante wager.
 26. The method of claim 2 wherein after a player position poker hand rank is determined to be higher than the dealer position hand rank, a final player position poker hand rank in excess of three-of-a-kind is awarded a bonus payout on the ante wager.
 27. The method of claim 10 wherein after a player position poker hand rank is determined to be higher than the dealer position hand rank, a final player position poker hand rank in excess of three-of-a-kind is awarded a bonus payout on the ante wager.
 28. The method of claim 10 where the player position is dealt exactly four cards face down, and exactly three community cards are dealt before all wagers are finally resolved.
 29. A method of performing a wagering event comprises: providing a randomized set of a single deck of at least 52 playing cards; a player position posting an ante wager; the player position with an ante wager is dealt at least two and no more than four face-down playing cards; a dealer position is dealt at least four down cards and no more than 7 total playing cards with no more than 7 down playing cards; a second wager being posted at the player position or the player position hand folding; if a second wager has been posted at the player position, sufficient community cards are dealer for use by the player position to a) complete a best of five, best of six or best of seven playing cards four-card stud poker hand or to complete b) a best of six or best of seven playing cards five-card poker hand; in a), standard four-card poker rank with cards at the player position are compared with standard four-card poker rank at the dealer position, respectively; in b), standard five-card poker rank with cards at the player position are compared with standard five-card poker rank at the dealer position; only if the respective poker rank at the player position at most equals or is lower than the respective poker rank at the dealer position, the respective poker rank at the player position is compared with a paytable to determine resolution of all wagers against the paytable. 